A graphical user interface (GUI) provides an intuitive display of options available to the user using graphical controls in addition to text menus. Unfortunately, when the number of options within the interface becomes large, the sheer mass of information clutters the display confusing the user. This is known as the “information overload problem.” An interface designer in these situations intentionally limits the single selection display and control to a smaller number of options that is comfortable to a user. By limiting the options, the user interface is easier to understand but requires more operations to perform the same action, and so efficiency for a trained user becomes limited. Selecting options using a single selection control also limits the ability to operate efficiently because a user must be able to distinguish between the intermediate states created by supplying each small additional amount of information. Until all selections are entered, the user must struggle with a partially configured user interface.
An obstacle to efficient GUI operation is having two different aspects of a display that can be adjusted independently. Either the display characteristics are independently adjustable, or “modes” are defined setting the adjustments to a particular configuration. The user must first select the mode, and then also select a setting within the mode. When a user of Microsoft® Word 2000™ opens a file (as shown in screen display 200 in FIG. 2A), the user may first select a view mode (e.g., List, Details, Properties, Preview), and additionally may select an order of presentation (e.g., Arrange by Name, Type, Size, or Date). This example requires the user to select a view and then separately select an order using two different operations. Likewise Microsoft® Windows® 2000™ allows icon size to be adjusted and the view to be selected through two independent controls. Again, two operations are required for a user to select the complete configuration. One potential solution is to display all possible combinations of the two parameters, but that solution can quickly become unmanageable even when there are only a few options for each parameter. For example, displaying 5 optional modes and 10 possible settings within each of those modes would require presentation of 50 separate options to the user.
The design challenge is also evident within the file management function of operating systems and application programs. The use of files is central to the use of a personal computer. As operating systems and application programs have advanced in complexity and functionality, the number and types of files that a user must manage has increased. Over the years, operating systems and application programs have provided various options for users to view their files and to correctly locate particular files. A list view provides more file details such as creation date, file name, and file type, referred to as metadata. An icon view may provide only the filename and the icon associated with the application used to create or edit the file. A thumbnail view provides a miniature picture of the content of the file (e.g., a photographic image from a digital camera). Each of these views is useful for different file types. More options benefit the user when selecting an appropriate view mode is an easy and intuitive operation.
Various control mechanisms have been used in past operating systems and file management applications. When there are just a few options, these options may be displayed as discrete buttons in a menu bar (e.g., one button for each mode), which provides for quick toggling between file view modes. When there are more than three or four options, a single button that activates a drop-down list of view modes provides quick access without requiring large amounts of screen real estate. Also useful for a relatively large number of options is a combined (or split) button that is divided such that half of the button cycles through the options, and the other half activates a drop-down list of view modes. The cycling action allows the user to view each option while the drop-down list allows the user to select the desired view mode with one action.
Another action related to file view modes is the sizing of the icon or thumbnail associated with the file. In various implementations, slider controls have been used to scroll the size of the icons from small to large over a continuous range. For example, this setting has sometimes been applied to all icons in all file views globally within an operating system. Alternatively, this setting has been applied to all icons in a specific window or folder.
Within these previous file view mode selectors, the size of the icons or thumbnails has not been user selectable by the same control as selects the view mode (detailed list, icon, thumbnail). The amount of metadata shown within a particular view mode has not been configurable within the file view mode selector control. Moreover, the amount of metadata shown within a particular view mode has not been driven by icon size.
The proliferation of view modes for file list windows within the operating system necessitates an improved user interface control to harness the power of multiple options. Current file view mode options include a detailed list view with configurable degree of metadata and icon sizes, a tiled view with larger icons, but generally less metadata displayed, and thumbnail or icon views with images configurable from small to large.
Each of these different file view modes is appropriate for different file types. An appropriate view mode is one that is most helpful to the user for selecting the correct file the first time. Thumbnails are useful for selecting images, especially those captured by a digital camera where the file name is likely a number determined by the camera, which is not familiar to the user. A detailed list with many metadata fields displayed may be more appropriate when selecting among text documents, possibly with different create dates or authors, where the file name is likely descriptive of the content. A tiled view combines the best of both detailed and thumbnail views for directories of mixed file types.
Another obstacle to graphical operation is encountered when there are two (or more) alternative ways to control the same parameter(s), and the controls are convenient at different times. When both controls are made available they are typically described with text so that the user understands that they really control the same parameter(s). For example, as shown in screen display 250 in FIG. 2B, the zoom control in Microsoft® Word 2000™ presents different alternatives for selecting the amount of zoom. The user can either input a percentage of the actual presentation, or, alternatively, a descriptive selection is available such as: Zoom to (page width, text width, whole page, many pages). This requires more than one operation because it requires the user to find the zoom control, and then experiment with the alternatives until the user finds the right percentage for his or her document. If, for example, the user settles on 71% after experimentation, the user has no visual cue indicating how this final selection is related to the offered preferred settings. The next time that user is faced with the same problem, he or she will be forced to remember “71” or else go through the same experimentation.
There has long been a need in the GUI design area to provide some method for simplifying the information overload problem in a way that is intuitive for the user to understand and operationally efficient once the interface has been learned. This is particularly true when there are two parameters which must be simultaneously controlled, or when there are two alternatives for controlling the same parameter which need to be visually displayed and controlled by the user.
Moreover, there is a need for a convenient control for users to select among various file view modes either discretely with preset buttons or continuously with a slider control that not only selects the view mode but also modifies the size of icons or thumbnails and varies the amount of metadata displayed. By controlling both the view mode and sizing with a single control, a user could quickly customize the file view mode in one action. Such a combination of continuous and discrete controls would provide both ease of use for the novice user as well as specific control for the user who desires a particular view mode including size and detail preferences.